I have poured, along with other HBC members, at a commercial beer festival in our town in CA. I checked with the organizer who checked with the ABC. I was told that it was allowed....at least in CA. Now I don't know all the specifics but it seems like it met the letter of the law1. The homebrewers received no form of compensation, it was all done by wristband so there were not even drink tickets to collect.2. All proceeds collected went to a 501c non-profit3. All pours were in a 3 oz. sample glass4. Now this is the big one IMO....it also involved two beer competitions. One was a straight out Best Beer contest and the other was a People's Choice contest. It looks like according to CA state law that homebrew may be served in a festival type setting along as it is part of a competition, tasting, or judging. http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/pages/government-affairs/statutes/californiaIt does not stipulate who can be a judge or how many judges the competition can have.

As I understand it, the homebrew tent is only serving tastings not full glasses. Anyway thats how the St Louis Brews were doing it at the last OFest. The commercial booths were serving the liter steins.

Darned nice of them to figure this out less than a week away from the event.

It seems like your ABC folks up in NorCal are much friendlier than ours here in LA where they've repeatedly told us not a chance in hell even though it's a wristband event with no tickets.

Wow! That a bummer. I am actually just up the 101 from you in Ventura. I also know that the Santa Barbara area clubs pour at the Santa Barbara Beer Festival. You would "think" that since it is a state law that it would be applied equally in all parts of the state.

I dunno...I've gone to a few great events where homebrew was also served, and invariably it is much of what I was there for. It's the biggest reason I bought a ticket. Tough to say it wasn't being sold under those circumstances.

Of course, Kansas is one of those "only in the home" states, so I guess competitions and even club meetings are illegal if the law is followed to the letter.

A clarification....at the Heritage Fest, you pay at the gate something like $30. This gets you a tasting glass and as many samples as you want. It started out as a festival where every beer style was served, an educational event. It has transformed in the breweries bringing in whatever style they want and has become a drunk fest.

I suppose with all the microbreweries in StL these days, the festival might do OK without homebrew. Sucks to lose a venue to show off our collective talents though. I suppose the clubs could still operate an informational booth or something that would at least give the general public some education about homebrew and some free advertizing for the clubs.

I've been fortunate enough to pour some homebrew at two festivals in PA. Both were a huge success, and the organizers are more than happy to have us there. I don't know what goes into it legally, but when everyone comes to the tent they are required to sign a waiver.

My club, the Three Rivers Underground Brewers, puts on a benefit every year for Cystic Fibrosis (www.brewingupacure.org). We feature our homebrew with some commercial beers added. We are fortunate one member is a lawyer who fully investigated the legality in Pennsylvania.

I've served my homebrew (for free) at two local Relay for Life fundraisers, and another one for local scholarships. They are closed events. I have no clue as to the legality, but we've never had a problem, and the folks rent a building at the local county fairgrounds.......

I've served my homebrew (for free) at two local Relay for Life fundraisers, and another one for local scholarships. They are closed events. I have no clue as to the legality, but we've never had a problem, and the folks rent a building at the local county fairgrounds.......

You're welcome The fact that they are closed events and you are not selling the beer are the two main reasons it is legal.

They have been serving homebrew at this festival for years. I think the greedy city just caught on and realized there is no way to tax the homebrew. The homebrew clubs are starting to work with the AHA to get this fixed. One of the new craft breweries, 4 Hands Brewing, is going to have a free homebrew only festival in July during St. Louis Craft Beer Week.

Make it simple. Any homebrewers ( those who produce less than 200 gallons per year) should be free to allow their beer to be dispensed at any event in whatever manner they choose, as long as the consumers are of legal age for the jurisdiction. The rest is plain BS.